Oh another thing. He's lost his personal sense of style. When he was first becoming famous, he had back-combed hair and eyeliner, but looked artfully messy rather than unhygienic. Now he just looks a bit homeless. I put this down to an identity crises too, probably due to not knowing how to dress for his age and trying to look "relaxed" or something.
Finally, he used to come across as a friendly person, whereas in the past few years we've had Sachs-gate (it was totally overblown but it was still very disrespectful) and some uncomfortable jokes about Katy during his relationship with her. There's probably other rude instances I've forgotten. He's so interested in getting a laugh nowadays he doesn't always stop to consider people's feelings.
I'll always have a soft spot for Mr Brand but it's just the chat show appearances of late, I think he appears quite bored with them too and that may be part of the problem.
Nice to see him all lovey dovey with Jemima in the pics at the airport, I like them as a couple:)
People get confused and think that his purple prose equates to intellect. He can use flowery language and ten words when one will do all he wants, but cut through the bollocks and you end up with very little of value or insight being offered.
Im not sure I agree,Infact I know I dont as I bought the copy of New Statesman that he guest edited and his words amount to a lot whether you agree with them or not.
I think Brand is in danger of being hoisted by his own petard soon.
His call to not vote IS dangerous, and Jon Snow rightly owned him. It's alright for a rich celebrity to not vote; but the average lay person who will be deeply affected by political decisions cannot afford not to vote. Very disappointed in Russell on this, and of his contemptuous comments about Katy Perry, post divorce.
He is an intelligent and insightful man, but, IMHO, his ego is spiralling out of control.
Oh another thing. He's lost his personal sense of style. When he was first becoming famous, he had back-combed hair and eyeliner, but looked artfully messy rather than unhygienic. Now he just looks a bit homeless. I put this down to an identity crises too, probably due to not knowing how to dress for his age and trying to look "relaxed" or something.
Finally, he used to come across as a friendly person, whereas in the past few years we've had Sachs-gate (it was totally overblown but it was still very disrespectful) and some uncomfortable jokes about Katy during his relationship with her. There's probably other rude instances I've forgotten. He's so interested in getting a laugh nowadays he doesn't always stop to consider people's feelings.
Agree with the first part. I used to love his style, especially the hair and everything else. Then he became hollywoodised and ever since then hes been bland.
Shoulder length hair, suits and clean shaven doesnt suit him. He seems like he wants to be his old self but is restricted by stylists/managers etc.
I wish he would go back to how he was with the long hair, the stubble, the attitude etc.
I might agree wit him, but I can never stand him for long enough to find out. Even if I did, he's unlikely to have many things original to say.
Mostly he seems to be excessively and unfathomable vain
I agree, and about his ego too.
I like Russell he is intelligent & says interesting things.
BUT I totally take issue with his "revolution" calls.
Do you know why we dont have revolutions here Russell?? Because- THEY DONT WORK!!! Russian revolution didnt exactly lead to a land of plenty did it? The Chinese revolution lead to oppression & now operates a basically capitalist economic system. More recently the Egyptian one seems to have drifted into a mess.
Telling young people not to vote?? V clever.
As if the Tories didnt need enough of an excuse not to give a damn about the under 25's. If they dont vote the politicians wont fear them at the ballot box, therefore wont feel the need to represent or focus on their particular interests or problems.
Utterly counter-productive
did Brand look silly in the John Snow interview? what did he say wrong, was it his stance on legalising drugs? what is he hoping to achieve with the revolution talk, surely he doesn't believe he can change anything?
whenever I have seen him try talk about important issues he seems to make a joke or say something daft, its difficult to take him seriously, you cant do that with people that know their politics. I don't particularly dislike the guy but think he is pretentious these days.
I see him as someone who sees what's wrong, but who wants someone else to come up with the alternatives and lead the revolution. I share some of his frustration in this, being somewhat similar in many respects.
Leading a revolution takes a level of certainty that liberal-thinking people tend to lack. Apart from some of those in Europe when the Eastern Bloc governments fell in the late 80's, I can't think of many others lead by liberals. Ironically, they were perhaps the most successful and least bloody revolutions we've ever seen, so perhaps liberals should lead more of them?
I also tend to agree with Brand's critics who say he's wrong to go down the no voting route. He's most likely to appeal to younger people who already don't vote enough to raise their issues in importance to politicians. All he's doing is making sure that continues. If they decided to take part in more direction action instead, well we've seen how good governments (and the pro-establishment media) are in manipulating public opinion against such things. It simply wouldn't work unless it turned extremely ugly and violent, and I'm sure that's not a route most of us want to go down.
He would have been better off either backing an established party or promoting a new one even if it were mainly a single issue party aimed at specific reforms. At least we'd get an idea just how much support those view had, just as the major parties are now seeing over immigration with UKIP.
did Brand look silly in the John Snow interview? what did he say wrong, was it his stance on legalising drugs? what is he hoping to achieve with the revolution talk, surely he doesn't believe he can change anything?
whenever I have seen him try talk about important issues he seems to make a joke or say something daft, its difficult to take him seriously, you cant do that with people that know their politics. I don't particularly dislike the guy but think he is pretentious these days.
The Jon Snow interview was a real snub to the people trying to get reforms of the drug laws in this country.
Instead of discussing that issue, Snow insisted on talking about other things most of the time that were nothing to do with it. That's one of the reasons Brand was getting so pissed off at times. He kept trying to get back to that issue and Snow kept directed the discussion away from it again.
I guess we're supposed to blame Brand for going on instead of someone else from the campaign, but if Lucas had gone on instead I'm sure Snow would have gone on about the weather and global warming.
It was a pretty blatant attempt to avoid talking about the real issue, in my opinion, and a perfect example of one of the things Brand has been criticising about how the media and politicians often treat important issues that they really don't want to address.
People confuse obnoxiousness with charisma. They confuse stating the obvious with insight, and confuse exaggeration and embellishment with sexual prowess
I've always found him too full of ' look at me aren't I clever and trendy' . Can't stand the man, always looks as if he needs a good scrub and hair wash.
Russell seems to think those who pay to see him perform (comedy not sex) represent public opinion. He forgets they are there because they like him and possibly agree with his views, ie he's preaching to the converted.
He assumes everyone agrees with him, guess what Russell they don't. The BNP take direct action, walking through areas where there is a high immigrant population, so if they get enough popular support that's fine with Russell?
MP's are so far out of touch with the people they've opposed the re-introduction of capital punishment despite what polls show. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of country folk protested at the ban on fox hunting, their views ignored by politicians.
And this chump says don't vote for an MP, whilst telling people to vote for a petition instigated by an MP. Why do people like Russell assume everyone seeks the same outcome from a revolution?
A news programme is not like an appearance on This Morning, his views will be questioned and probed. His reaction on Channel 4 showed he was no better than the pub philosopher who props up the bar.
MP's are so far out of touch with the people they've opposed the re-introduction of capital punishment despite what polls show.
And thank god for that.
Actually, going off on a tangent, it would be interesting to see how crime was dealt with under Russell's "revolution". Lynch mobs in the streets, presumably.
Another one here who used to love Russell. Agree with the poster who said Matt Morgan kept him grounded. It's all very well for a Russell to preach about Drugs, I guess as he's been there/ done that. However, as for being like us....no he's not, he's rich, famous and can swan off anywhere he likes. He is believing his own self important hype. Take away the fancy, clothes, fancy words and you have a caricature of who he was. If the young don't vote in this country, they will have no say. Ok it's not much of a gain with any party, but it's how our country is run. First sign of anarchy and a revolution and Russell, will be back in lala land, while we all suffer. I hate our government but can brand do better? I bloody doubt it. He writes good blogs, is well read, but that's it. As for being unhygienic I doubt that. It take time & money to look that unkempt. I have also read that Russell is very fussy about hygiene. I don't think he is dirty.
I also used to be a fan, but find him more of an embarrassment these days.
I agree with the person who said that he often wrongly uses the long words that he's fond of and also, he thinks he's far more intellgent than he actually is.
Comments
Finally, he used to come across as a friendly person, whereas in the past few years we've had Sachs-gate (it was totally overblown but it was still very disrespectful) and some uncomfortable jokes about Katy during his relationship with her. There's probably other rude instances I've forgotten. He's so interested in getting a laugh nowadays he doesn't always stop to consider people's feelings.
Nice to see him all lovey dovey with Jemima in the pics at the airport, I like them as a couple:)
Im not sure I agree,Infact I know I dont as I bought the copy of New Statesman that he guest edited and his words amount to a lot whether you agree with them or not.
Mostly he seems to be excessively and unfathomable vain
His call to not vote IS dangerous, and Jon Snow rightly owned him. It's alright for a rich celebrity to not vote; but the average lay person who will be deeply affected by political decisions cannot afford not to vote. Very disappointed in Russell on this, and of his contemptuous comments about Katy Perry, post divorce.
He is an intelligent and insightful man, but, IMHO, his ego is spiralling out of control.
Agree with the first part. I used to love his style, especially the hair and everything else. Then he became hollywoodised and ever since then hes been bland.
Shoulder length hair, suits and clean shaven doesnt suit him. He seems like he wants to be his old self but is restricted by stylists/managers etc.
I wish he would go back to how he was with the long hair, the stubble, the attitude etc.
I agree, and about his ego too.
I like Russell he is intelligent & says interesting things.
BUT I totally take issue with his "revolution" calls.
Do you know why we dont have revolutions here Russell?? Because- THEY DONT WORK!!! Russian revolution didnt exactly lead to a land of plenty did it? The Chinese revolution lead to oppression & now operates a basically capitalist economic system. More recently the Egyptian one seems to have drifted into a mess.
Telling young people not to vote?? V clever.
As if the Tories didnt need enough of an excuse not to give a damn about the under 25's. If they dont vote the politicians wont fear them at the ballot box, therefore wont feel the need to represent or focus on their particular interests or problems.
Utterly counter-productive
whenever I have seen him try talk about important issues he seems to make a joke or say something daft, its difficult to take him seriously, you cant do that with people that know their politics. I don't particularly dislike the guy but think he is pretentious these days.
Leading a revolution takes a level of certainty that liberal-thinking people tend to lack. Apart from some of those in Europe when the Eastern Bloc governments fell in the late 80's, I can't think of many others lead by liberals. Ironically, they were perhaps the most successful and least bloody revolutions we've ever seen, so perhaps liberals should lead more of them?
I also tend to agree with Brand's critics who say he's wrong to go down the no voting route. He's most likely to appeal to younger people who already don't vote enough to raise their issues in importance to politicians. All he's doing is making sure that continues. If they decided to take part in more direction action instead, well we've seen how good governments (and the pro-establishment media) are in manipulating public opinion against such things. It simply wouldn't work unless it turned extremely ugly and violent, and I'm sure that's not a route most of us want to go down.
He would have been better off either backing an established party or promoting a new one even if it were mainly a single issue party aimed at specific reforms. At least we'd get an idea just how much support those view had, just as the major parties are now seeing over immigration with UKIP.
The Jon Snow interview was a real snub to the people trying to get reforms of the drug laws in this country.
Instead of discussing that issue, Snow insisted on talking about other things most of the time that were nothing to do with it. That's one of the reasons Brand was getting so pissed off at times. He kept trying to get back to that issue and Snow kept directed the discussion away from it again.
I guess we're supposed to blame Brand for going on instead of someone else from the campaign, but if Lucas had gone on instead I'm sure Snow would have gone on about the weather and global warming.
It was a pretty blatant attempt to avoid talking about the real issue, in my opinion, and a perfect example of one of the things Brand has been criticising about how the media and politicians often treat important issues that they really don't want to address.
^ ^ ^
Couldn't agree more.
He assumes everyone agrees with him, guess what Russell they don't. The BNP take direct action, walking through areas where there is a high immigrant population, so if they get enough popular support that's fine with Russell?
MP's are so far out of touch with the people they've opposed the re-introduction of capital punishment despite what polls show. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of country folk protested at the ban on fox hunting, their views ignored by politicians.
And this chump says don't vote for an MP, whilst telling people to vote for a petition instigated by an MP. Why do people like Russell assume everyone seeks the same outcome from a revolution?
A news programme is not like an appearance on This Morning, his views will be questioned and probed. His reaction on Channel 4 showed he was no better than the pub philosopher who props up the bar.
And thank god for that.
Actually, going off on a tangent, it would be interesting to see how crime was dealt with under Russell's "revolution". Lynch mobs in the streets, presumably.
I agree with the person who said that he often wrongly uses the long words that he's fond of and also, he thinks he's far more intellgent than he actually is.